The next day after the first meeting and double fights with the two ninja teams and two Purple Dragon groups, the turtles of the dimension took their counterparts and their allies up to the Jones farm house.
Outside, the Rainbooms and turtles were relaxing on the house porch or a bench while enjoying the outdoors, while others like the other turtles and Splinter were watching Raphael who sparing with the CMC who were honing the ninja skills they've developed.
O’Neil and Jones came out with drinks, as the adult man spoke, “Here yuh go, guys.”
“Thanks, Jones.” Rainbow said, as she took a drink.
“So your family owned this farmhouse?” Applejack asked him, while having her drink.
“Yeah. It belonged tuh my grandparents.” Jones answered.
“It's kinda surprising to hear this place belongs to your family.” Donnie admitted.
“What do yuh mean?” he asked.
“In our dimension, it's April's family that owned a farmhouse, and it was located in Upstate New York, not in Western Massachusetts.” the smart turtle explained.
“Huh, how about that?” O'Neil asked Jones.
“Aftuh de guys fought de Shredduh a second time we came here tuh recuperate.” Jones explained.
“How long did you stay?” Raph inquired.
“About three months.” O'Neil answered.
“Wow, so did we.” Mikey said.
“I spent a majority of that time in a coma.” Leo admitted, as the other three turtles approached.
“What happened to you?” Leonardo asked.
“Well, for starters, the Kraang began their invasion of New York City, and our Shredder and his goons were helping them,” Leo began, “I lured the Kraang away so my brothers could escape and regroup. But then I came face to face with Shredder. He sent his Foot Bots and his mutants to attack me. I wore myself out trying to defend myself and Shredder got the drop on me and struck me down.”
“It was not pretty.” Raph added.
“When I woke up in the farmhouse three months later I still had a busted leg. I tried to pick myself up from it to get stronger but I always kept letting the injury weight me down. But even with a recovering leg I still had to be strong for whatever problems we faced while waiting it out at the farm.”
“So how did your leg get better?” Donatello asked.
“Well, as it turns out my leg wasn't as bad as I really made it out to be for some time. I guess after my experience in New York I kept using it as an excuse to not face the problem letting it weigh me down. I discovered that during my Spirit Quest. When we all got back we decided it was time to go home and take back the city.”
“And we pulled it off, thank you.” Mikey said proudly.
The group looked over and saw Raphael still sparing with the CMC, “Come on, kids. Is dat all yuh got, or what? I'm not even usin' my full strength.”
“Give us a break, we're still learning.” Apple Bloom replied, while dodging a sweep kick from Raphael.
“No excuses!” Raphael ordered like a drill sergeant.
As the trio continued to spar, they smirked to each other and backed Raphael close to a tree, where suddenly his foot got snared in a trap, and was hanging upside down, “Hey!” he called, as he dangled.
“Gotcha!” the CMC cheered.
“What? When did ya...” Raphael said in confusion.
“Each of us took a turn setting that trap up, while the rest kept you distracted from seeing what was goin' on behind you.” Sweetie Belle explained.
“Once it was set, we all backed you away and into it.” Scootaloo finished.
“That's very smart.” Donatello said sounding impressed.
“We're a movie club,” Apple Bloom told him, “We tend to be observant for scenes like that.”
The three saw Raphael frowning, before it turned into a smirk, “Not bad, you guys. That was a clever move.”
“Thanks.” the CMC said sounding happy.
“Now how about cutting me down here?”
“I'll do it.” Mikey offered, as he used the blade part of his chucks to cut the rope making Raphael drop on his face.
“Mikey!” Raphael shouted, as he chased Mikey around who screamed in panic.
“Nice to see someone else gets chased around by Raph for a change.” Michelangelo said.
After Raphael and Mikey wore themselves out they joined the others for drinks, “That was quick thinking, Apple Bloom.” Applejack commended her sister.
“Thanks, Applejack.”
“Not bad at all, squirt.” Rainbow ruffled Scootaloo's hair.
“You were wonderful, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity told her sister.
“I try.” she replied.
“Continue to hone your skills like the Rainbooms, young ones,” Master Splinter told them, “They may be very useful when you need them the most.”
“Yes, Master.” the CMC bowed their heads.
As everyone took the moment to relax, Leonardo looked at Leo while thinking about what he said earlier, “You know, Leo. I've been there before.”
“Been where?” Pinkie asked.
“Putting myself down and letting the weight of the world weigh me down,” Leonardo began, “I mean have you ever felt like a failure, that you weren't good enough?”
The Rainbooms shared a look, until Leo answered for himself, “A lot of times... yeah. But I've learned not to let it affect me, and I accepted that we're not the best fighters. But whenever we faced anyone bigger, stronger, and better fighters than us, we always found a way around it. Like Master Splinter, our Master Splinter once said: Look for the victory. And we have ever since.”
Leo smiled at the words of wisdom, before sighing and continued, “Well, there was a time I really hit rock bottom.”
“How?” Princess Twilight asked in concern.
“In our last confrontation with the Shredder before he was banished, we were all one moment away from deaths door, had it not been for the Utrom saving us at the last second. But we still didn't escape unscathed. We were all badly injured. Even our Master Splinter was in bad shape.”
Master Splinter nodded, while recalling the burns he received in the last fight with their Shredder. Leonardo continued, “I would've thought after Shredder was gone I'd feel more at peace. But after what happened I started blaming myself for how we almost didn't make it out, and that I wasn't a good enough leader. So for months I started acting more temperamental, serious, and angry about our training.”
“Yeah, he became more Raph than Raph.” Michelangelo noted.
“Even that got me angry tuh see.” Raphael admitted.
“Leo more like me?” Raph asked, “That's actually a scary thought.”
“For real.” Mikey agreed.
“I definitely wouldn't want to see Leo like that.” Twilight said, while looking at Leo.
“Well, I won't deny I've let anger get the best of me,” Leo admitted, “When we found out Fugitoid never told us he built the Black Hole in the first place, I lashed out at him hard blaming him for everything,” Fugitoid looked down still remembering how his words cut deep, until Sunset comforted him, “I was so angry I stupidly tried to take down the Triceraton empire myself with one little ship.”
“You what?” Donatello asked in shock.
“That's crazy!” Michelangelo gasped.
“I know. And I almost died out in space when my ship was blown and my helmet cracked.” Leo added.
“Luckily we were able to rescue him.” Fugitoid added.
"And I've had my fair share of lashing out even after I became friends with the girls." Sunset admitted recalling several time she's lashed out at others out of frustration like Twilight, Mikey, etc.
Right,” Leonardo said, before continuing, “Anyway, after letting so much anger and frustration get the best of me I actually injure Master Splinter during a spar.”
“Yikes.” Rainbow said, while Fluttershy put her hands to her mouth.
Master Splinter spoke, “I realized I could not help my son with what he was feeling. So I sent him on a journey to Japan to seek out my master Yoshi's teacher; The Ancient One.”
Leonardo nodded, “When I first found him I just thought he was some random old man, but he helped me during my travels, where I started to reflect on why I was so angry so much. And thanks to him I was able to overcome my insecurity and put the past behind me.”
“That all really happened?” Sunset asked.
“You say you can read memories? You can look for yourself.” Leonardo offered.
“Actually, I'll take your word for it,” Sunset replied, “I've already seen horrible memories of one person.” she said remembering the time she looked into Batman's memories of when his parents were murdered.
Twilight spoke up, “I still can't believe how your last confrontation with Shredder led you to behaving that way.”
“Well, it wasn't just about how we almost died in an explosion,” Leonardo admitted, “I was also stabbed by a friend.” he turned around to show everyone the crack in his shell.
“Whoa.” The turtles gasped.
“That had to hurt.” Mikey winced.
“What friend would do a thing like that?” Applejack asked in shock.
Leonardo looked over and not wanting to really put any blame just pointed at Karai, “Huh?” Karai asked.
“Karai?” April asked him.
“Not yours. The Karai we knew.” Leonardo answered.
“Somehow... I'm not surprised.” Karai said looking down guilty of the times she betrayed them even before they were friends.
“But why would your Karai do that?” Starlight wondered.
“Because unlike your Karai, ours was Shredder's daughter.” Donatello answered.
“She what?” Keno asked in confusion.
“That doesn't make sense!” Pinkie cried.
“Yeah. If your Shredder was an alien, then how is...” Dog Spike was cut off by Leonardo.
“Actually, she was taken in by him. She was just a street child but Ch'Rell or Oroku Saki found her and took her in training her in the art of the Foot.”
“So she had no idea who her family was?” Shini wondered.
“Only that they abandoned her when she was just a kid.” Leonardo answered.
“The poor dear.” Rarity said in concern.
“Don't feel sympathy this quickly.” O'Neil warned them.
Leonardo continued his explanation, “Karai always felt she believed it was her duty to remain loyal to the Shredder and serve him, even when she knew the stuff he was doing was wrong. I tried to convince her to leave the Shredder because she was more honorable than he was. But she was loyal to her father period. Although, she did help us out on more than one occasion.”
“Well, that counts for something.” Starlight said.
“I know, but when we tried to stop Shredder from returning to space to escape the Utrom, she did all she could to stop us. And when Ch'Rell was banished to a far off frozen asteroid, she vowed revenge.” Leonardo sighed.
“I have a bad feeling this is only going to get worse.” Karai said.
“I feel that too.” April agreed.
“While Leonardo was away training with the Ancient One, Karai and her Foot Ninja infiltrated our lair and destroyed it as vengeance for what we did to her father.” Splinter explained.
“It wasn't pretty, after gettin' our shells handed to us, we decided da best thing to do was to split up,” Raphael explained, “But Karai had those Foot soldiers everywhere we went!”
“It was a close call. But we pulled the wool over her eyes and got away!” Michelangelo added.
“When I returned, I found them all and brought them to our current lair now,” Leonardo continued, “Then I went to settle the score with Karai. While we fought, I told her that I finally realized she was a lost cause, but I gave her one last chance and told her not to waste it. And to stay away from my family.”
Leo looked at Karai, who looked more disappointed in her counterpart, “Wow! You guys have really been through a lot.” Dog Spike said.
“No kidding.” Spike agreed.
“So what's going on with your Karai now?” Keno wondered.
The other turtles wondered how to tell them, before Leonardo asked them, “Tell me, have you ever tried partnering up with your enemy for the greater good?”
The turtles, April, and Casey shared a look, before April answered, “Actually, we have.”
“When was that?” O'Neil asked.
“When the Triceraton army tried to wipe out the planet using the Black Hole Generator, we tried stopping them, but when Mikey was abducted and half of our allies were captured, we desperately sought the help of our Shredder and his mutants.”
Raphael blinked, “This is starting to sound like a bad dream.”
“It gets worse.” Raph replied, as April continued.
“At first Shredder was reluctant, but we managed to convince him to join us. At first things were going smoothly. Our Splinter and Shredder fought together like they did when they were younger. But when the two tried to race to shut off the generator, Shredder literally stabbed Splinter in the back before he could reach the device.”
“He what?!” Raphael asked in anger, while Splinter himself scowled expecting such an act from his enemy.
“And when the black hole was set off everything was getting sucked in. And Shredder claimed he didn't care if the planet was being destroyed all he wanted to do was kill our master, and this was his victory at the cost of everything including his own life.” Leo finished.
“But if that happened, then how are you all alive?” Donatello wondered.
“Thanks to Fugitoid and a bit of time travel we were able to prevent the planet from being destroyed and gave our Master Splinter a little more time before his official passing.” Donnie explained.
“Though we did kinda cut it close.” Rainbow admitted.
“So what were you going with this, Leonardo?” Casey asked.
“There was a time, we had to partner up with not only our greatest allies, but with our enemies as well. Karai and the Foot, even Hun and the Purple Dragons, among others.” Leonardo explained.
“It must've been something really bad.” Pinkie guessed.
“It was.” Splinter confirmed.
“Our city was being invaded by a Tengu.” Leonardo explained.
“Uh. Bless you?” Fluttershy said in confusion.
“He said 'Tengu', Fluttershy.” Sunset corrected her.
“What's a tengu?” Rainbow asked.
“A tengu is a type of demon.” Karai explained.
“And it wasn't just any demon.” Donatello said.
“This tengu was the original Shredder.” Splinter stated.
The group looked shocked, as Casey spoke, “Wait a sec, 'Original Shredder'?”
“You mean before Ch'Rell, there was another Shredder?” Twilight asked in shock.
“That is correct.” Splinter confirmed, as Leonardo explained.
“Hundreds of years ago in ancient Japan, a tengu rose up from the earth and laid waste to all he saw. Until a group of five noble warriors of the time rose up to defeat the demon. One of these warriors was the original Oroku Saki.”
“Oroku Saki was a real person in this universe?” Spike asked.
Leonardo nodded, “They fought hard, and when Saki landed the final blow, everyone thought all was well. But they were wrong. What they didn't know was the demon tempted Saki with his power and the demons spirit was assimilated into him turning him evil and twisted. Using his new demonic power, the Shredder sought to change the world into his own image. His former friends sought to defeat him by seeking out those gifted in the mystic arts. With their new-found power they defeated the Shredder and imprisoned him in a sarcophagus while his power were separated into his gauntlet and helmet that were hidden away.”
“I'm guessing he didn't stay away forever?” Shini inquired.
“No. The Tengu Shredder's five loyal minions were able to find his artifacts and his body bringing him back to life where he tried to conquer New York. Karai was the key to helping us defeat him, because of a link between all those who inherit the name of the Shredder. Using that link, she was able to adsorb his energy making him weak enough for us to separate him from his two artifacts. We defeated him, and Karai left us on good terms. But we haven't had contact with her or the Foot for months now.”
“Which I ain't complain' about.” Raphael said.
Karai hearing that felt relieved her counterpart put aside her hate for the Turtles to help the city, whereas the Shredder she grew up with would be willing to sacrifice their planet, even over a chance of seeing her again after she vanished following the brain worm removal.
"So wait a minute," Rainbow started, "If there really was an Oroku Saki and Shredder from that long ago. Then your rogue Utrom enemy Ch'Rell..."
"He somehow learned about the legend of the Shredder, and used that name to gain power and authority." Donatello explained.
"Talk about an identity crisis." Pinkie nudged Shini who nodded.
“You know all this demon talk makes me think of the times we tangled with the supernatural, right, bros?” Mikey asked his bros.
“I'll say.” Leo agreed.
“What demons or monsters d'ja guys face?” Jones asked.
“Well, one time we had to face the ghost of a Chinese martial artist,” Donnie began, “Another time we faced a demo-dragon.”
“Demo-Dragon?” Donatello asked.
“Yeah. A real nasty guy.” Rainbow recalled the time they fought and destroyed him.
“We even traveled through time and fought a pharaoh, a werewolf, Frankenstein's creation, and Count Dracula himself.” Mikey added.
Michelangelo gasped, “You met Dracula? You are so lucky!”
“It wasn't exactly a treat,” Donnie replied dryly, “Dracula turned Raph into a vampire. Even Casey and April.”
“But it's just another on the list of weird things to happen in our lives.” April added.
“It's just something we all share in common of course.” Fugitoid said.
“He's right,” Princess Twilight agreed, “What we all share in common is we've faced countless threats and dangers that threatened to tear us apart. But we always pick ourselves up and come back even stronger.”
“Because we're so awesome!” Rainbow cheered.
“I hear that.” Michelangelo agreed.
“Well, we better get dinner started,” O'Neil said while looking at the time, “A.J. Pinkie. You two feel like helping me out?”
“You bet.” Pinkie answered.
“Sure thing.” Applejack added, as the three went into the farmhouse. Soon the others entered as well to wash up.
Meanwhile back in New York, Hun, Sid, Fong, Tsoi, and the rest of their Dragons were approaching a warehouse, “This is the place?” Hun asked Fong.
“Says right here on the invite.” he confirmed.
“Then let's see what this offer is about.” Hun said, as they walked inside.
Upon entering they came face to face with the Hun and Purple Dragons of this world, “Boss, we got company.” one of Hun's goons noted.
Hun looked ahead, “You losers get lost. We're here on business.”
“Well, so are we.” Turtle Hun said, as he stepped forward and into the light.
“What is that?” Hun gasped.
“Looks like another mutant turtle.” one of his Dragons suspected.
“Great. Just what this city needs. Nine shell back freaks.” Hun groaned.
“Nine?” Turtle Hun gasped, realizing who he was talking about, “Who are all of you?”
“We're the Purple Dragons. And if you know what's good for you, you'll beat it right now.” Hun ordered, as his goons readied their weapons.
“Funny you call yourselves the Purple Dragons. Because that's who we are.” Turtle Hun explained.
“What?! You dare take our name for your own?!” Hun growled.
“That's enough, Hun!” came a new voice.
Turtle Hun and his Dragons were startled by that voice, while Hun and his Dragons looked around, “I recognize that voice anywhere.”
They saw coming into the light looked like an odd looking robot that was hidden behind a hologram of a dark skinned man in glasses and lab attire, “Baxter Stockman.” Hun scowled.
“I'd say in the flesh, but then that would be a lie.” Baxter explained.
“Stockman?” Turtle Hun asked.
“Indeed. Though obviously I am not who you're used too,” Baxter began, “Allow me to introduce you all. Hun meet... Hun.”
The two Huns looked to each other, as Hun stomped to Baxter growling, “What's this all about, Stockman?”
“Come on, Hun, even someone with your brain can tell what's going on,” Baxter said dryly, but Hun said nothing, “Very well. This Hun and his followers are Purple Dragons from another world.”
“Another world?” Hun asked, as he looked over at his counterpart, “Are you saying in some other world, I'm a freak?!”
“I wasn't always like this.” Turtle Hun spoke up, “I used to be human like you, until I was turned into this thanks to four disgusting reptiles!”
“Let me guess... Turtles?” Hun asked rhetorically.
“Precisely.”
Hun looked over at Baxter, “How do you know so much about this?”
“And why call both of us here?” Turtle Hun inquired sounding equally suspicious.
“Because I also had a run in.” Baxter answered, as another came into the light. It was none other than Baxter Stockman of Turtle Hun's world wearing his cybernetic armor.
“Hello, Hun.” he greeted while smirking.
“Stockman.” Turtle Hun greeted back while crossing his arms.
“Huns and Dragons, what's say we talk business?” Baxter suggested.